


Jasper Hale

by VampireGuardDogs



Series: twilight headcanons - individuals [8]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Hope, War, hopeful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-01-04 22:44:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18353231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireGuardDogs/pseuds/VampireGuardDogs
Summary: A series of headcanons about Jasper Hale. For all of these (unless otherwise specified) he was part of the Union Army.





	1. Hopeful Parents

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! Come talk to me on Tumblr under the username vampireguarddogs and to see a bunch more Twilight content, including writing I don't post here and moodboards! I also accept writing requests for your favorite ship, character, or group. I love any kind of message, long or short, about my work or anything! Have a great day. :)

Jasper had always been a bright boy, with big plans for the future. War had been brewing between the North and the South for some time now. He knew it was his duty to fight for the North, help give freedom anyway he could. His parents were supportive of this decision, understanding that there was nothing they could do to talk him out of it. And they knew all the honor a successful soldier could bring to their home. So they simply hoped he would come home safe, doing everything they could to protect him. 

He signed up the moment he realized he could pass for eighteen, the minimum age required to join. They didn’t look to closely anyway. They needed healthy, young boys too much and took on any that looked good enough. His parents sent him off, hoping for his safe return. They sent him as many care packages and letters as they could, wanting him to know how much they loved him. He barely had time to look at them, much less write back; he was too busy trying to move up through the ranks until he was the youngest major in Union history. His parents were bursting at the seams with pride, ready to share with the world all their son had accomplished. 

They kept up to date with his adventures in any way they could. They devoured any letters he sent them, searched for any news through town gossip, reading newspapers. Any updates they could find were enough, just anything to connect them to their boy. He wrote them when he was told he was assigned to be on a spy mission, which meant going to the South, behind enemy lines. Theis didn’t help their worry. But all they could do was read the updates coming in with decreasing frequency. 

And then the updates stopped. Weeks, months went by without any word. They grew more worried by the day, not knowing what to do. Then one more update came. One night, Jasper had never come back. They had sent a search party out, but they hadn’t ever found a body. They didn’t have the answers his parents were so desperate for.

They did everything they could to find the answers. All they wanted to know was where their son had gone. They began checking hospitals, thinking he had been brought there after an injury and couldn’t be identified. They sent out their own search parties, hoping for any sign of him. They put up posters, hoping someone would recognize him. But nothing came. No hospitals had seen him, no sign could be found, no one could remember seeing the missing boy. He had truly disappeared without a trace. No matter how hard or long they looked, they couldn’t find answers.  
They didn’t give up hope, even as they months turned to years and the years became decades. He would come home. He had to. No matter what, their son would come home. They had to think that wherever he was, he was happy. They couldn’t imagine him any other way. 

Sometimes, when they were walking around or visiting a friend further south, they could see glimpses of him. A face in the crowd, someone they passed on the street. One person had hair just the color and style he had. Another had the same build, or was the same height. But it couldn’t be him. Could it? Their son would never disappear on them like this, refuse to even say hello. Above all, they had to hope he was still the same boy that they had raised.


	2. Candy

Growing up was relatively simple for Jasper. He was an only child, living with his mother and father. His mother was a schoolteacher at the local elementary school, while his father owned and operated a local convenience store. They lived on the floor above it, in a simple two room apartment. Jasper mostly spent his time going to school, playing and exploring the city he lived in, doing homework, and trying to read as many books as he could get his hands on.

Once he was old enough, his father had him working in the store before and after school. When he first started, he would mostly just work helping keep the store clean, sweeping the aisles and putting back fallen items. As he aged, he was given more responsibilities, helping count and order stock.

His favorite spot to work was the cash register. He was surprisingly good at it. The math could be difficult, but his easy going personality and calm demeanor had customers gravitating towards him. He would talk and laugh with each customer, making sure each left with a smile, and generally more than they had planned to buy. His persuasiveness turned out to be useful; the shop was doing better than ever with him behind the register.

His job included running the register as soon as he got back from school, until they closed at nine. While he loved the work, he wasn’t too thrilled that he had to spend every afternoon inside the store. He missed being able to wander around the city and explore. He had always loved playing in the snow in the winter, jumping in leaves in the fall, picking flowers in the spring, and laying in the sun all summer. He would walk home from school as slow as possible, hoping to prolong his time outside. Rain or shine; it didn’t matter. He just wanted to be outside. 

After awhile, his father caught onto this habit of his and asked Jasper to get to the store sooner and sooner. He found he didn’t mind this as much though, not after seeing one of the newer customers. He didn’t manage to catch her name for awhile. They had talked a little bit over her visits to the store. She would peruse the sweets section for a long time daily, trying to determine exactly which candy she was going to buy. He watched her the first few times, studying as she carefully examined the shelves, trying to learn what she liked to get. He was nervous speaking to her, only exchanging a few pleasantries while she quickly paid for the candy and left. Until he finally got the nerve to talk to her.

“What is it you’re looking for?” he asked, stepping beside her and looking at the same display she was. 

“Something sweet, obviously,” she said, turning to him and flashing a smile before turning back to the display. “I like to switch it up so I don’t get the same thing every day.”

“I’ve noticed. Different candy every day for the past two weeks,” he said, smiling slightly.

“You’ve been noticing me?” she asked playfully, arching her eyebrow.

“Uh, I notice everyone,” he said, trying to cover his tracks. He pointed to a man across the store, carefully pick through the small produce section. “He comes in every day and spends 20 minutes picking through that section, only to walk out with nothing. She,” he began, pointing two aisles over, “comes in once a week to buy a new notebook. And they,” he said, motioning to a couple halfway down the next aisle, “come in every day to buy another loaf of bread for their family supper.” 

“So you really do keep an eye out for everyone?” she asked, laughing as she glanced at each of the people Jasper had pointed out.

“It’s all part of the customer service. Everyone likes to feel noticed.” he said with a laugh, putting his hands in his pockets. 

“That we do,” she said, reaching down a grabbing a candy bar. 

“Ready to check out?” he asked, pointing to the candy bar she had grabbed. She nodded, and they walked to the register.

“Which one is your favorite?” she asked as he rang up the candy, reaching into her small purse for her money.

“I don’t have one. Don’t really eat them much,” Jasper said, taking the money and putting it in the register before handing the candy back to her.

“Seriously?” she asked.

“Yes. Sorry, mam,” Jasper said, ducking his head and laughing.

“No need to apologize. I feel sorry for you,” she said, laughing with him. “What good is life without a little sweetness in it? Trust me,” she added, placing the bar back on the counter and walking out the door. Jasper took the bar and unwrapped it, taking a small bite as he watched her leave.

Every day after that, he made sure to set aside two candies, different ones every time.


	3. Cloudy Thoughts

Jasper sat out in his backyard, in the shade of a big tree. He sat alone, looking up at the sky. The sun wasn’t shining for once; it was a cloudy day. Big, fluffy white clouds drifted through the sky. He watched them as they floated through the sky, looking for shapes he could make out in them as they blocked the sun’s rays.

If he looked at that one just right, he could make out the body of a horse. The legs weren’t there, but he could imagine them. It was close enough, anyway. He watched it gallop across the sky, remembering the days he would ride his own horses. He hadn’t been able to do it in so long; family stresses had gotten to them and there just wasn’t time to go out to the stables anymore. He missed the freedom it offered, but had long since gotten used to missing it. It wasn’t his life anymore.

He looked through the sky some more, looking for other shapes in the clouds. He hadn’t done this in so long that it was difficult to find anything. He used to do this with his mother, but she was too busy now. She had always been better at it, able to find shapes in the most obscure looking clouds.

If he squinted at one floating to the left of him, he could see a shape that looked like the house he had grown up in. It had been a small house, barely more than one room. But he was closer to his family than ever living there; they spent nearly every waking moment together. They had had to, but it was still nice to spend evenings helping his mother cook and clean, his days spent helping his father at work. But that was before everything changed.

He sighed, shifting his position so he was laying down on the picnic blanket he had brought out. He moved further from the tree, using one of the larger roots as a pillow as he continued looking at the sky. He ignored the book he had brought out with him; he was too distracted to focus on it. There were too many thoughts in his head.

As he watched the clouds go by, he thought of the upcoming war. Everything would change soon, more than it had before. He knew it would be for the best, but he wasn’t exactly ready for it. At all. 

He kept trying to find ways to distract himself, to think about something, anything other than the upcoming war. But the books, conversations, hobbies, jobs, none of it was enough. It was all anyone could talk about anywhere he went, anyway. Even at the dinner table, when his parents tried desperately for other conversation, it was there. 

So he had come outside on this cloudy day in an attempt to forget. It only worked for so long before even the clouds started to remind him of what, exactly, he was trying to forget. 

One looked like a soldier's hat, another looks like a gun. The one above him looked like medals he didn’t want to earn; even a flag appeared in a small cluster. The horse became one he would have to ride into battle and the little house one he may have to hide in, or raid. 

He rolled over, closing his eyes, and pressing his face into the tuft of grass by his head. He just wanted to forget, to live in pretend for a little while. The clouds drifted over him, blocking the sun.


End file.
